Sight-protector for fire-arms



(Model.)

:0. H. DEGUMBUS.

SIGHT PROTECTOR FOR FIRE ARMS.

Patented 1, 1887.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OLIVER H. DEGUMBUS, OF NEWARK, NE\V JERSEY.

SIGHT-PROTECTOR FOR FIRE-ARMS.

. SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 358,734, dated March 1. 1887.

Application filcd September 20,1886. Serial No. 214,065. (Modch) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER H. DEoUMBUs, acitizen of the United States, residing at N ewark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sight-Protectors for Military Rifles, Oarbines, and other Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

In the use of military rifles, carbines, and other fire-arms it is customary to darken the front or fore sight with lamp-black or some similar substance, to prevent the light from being reflected from the sight to the eye. To prevent the lamp-black or other substance from being rubbed off, or to prevent other'in- 2o jury to the sight, or to afford a shade to the front or fore sight in aiming, or for all these purposes, it is common to use a device called a sight-protector. Thegeneral form of the sight-protector is well known. a hood or shade for covering the sight, combined with some holder or device for holding the hood on the barrel. The hood or shade may be closed at one end or open at both ends.

The latter form is known as open shade. WVit-h an open shade the sight-protector may remain on the barrel during aiming and firing, and greatly assists the marksman. In. the case of sight protectors with open shades hitherto in use, however, either the recoil of the piece after firing has thrown the sight protector off the barrel, or devices employed to prevent this throwing off have interfered with the expansion of the barrel when heated by firing.

I desire by myinvention to provide a sightprotector which shall obviate these objections, and shall be more convenient and reliable in use, and which, when not in use, may remain on the barrel.

To this end I construct a sight-protector having an open hood or'shade, and attach thereto some suitable holder, with a longitudinal slot at the base of the shade, said slot having a positive stop at its rear end, and being constructed so as to permit the hood or shade to slide over the front or fore sight of It consists of the rifle or other fire-arm from the rear of the said sight, and the stop being constructed to take positively against the rear of the sight and prevent the sight-protector from being displaced in firing. The form of holder which I prefer is the collar or short cylinder represented in the accompanying drawings, having a slot continuous throughout the length of the collar, whereby the sight-protector may be passed bodily past and to the rear of the front or fore sight.

In order to explain the invention more fully, I make the following detailed description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are hereby made a part of this specification.

Figure 5 represents my invention, in its preferred form, off the barrel. a is the collar or holder. 1) is the open hood or shade. slot or opening dividing the collar throughout its full length and wide enough to allow the collar to be slipped from the muzzle past and to the rear of the front or fore sight. d is a slot at the base of the shade I), closed at its rear end, wide enough to allow the sight-protector to be moved forward from the rear toward the muzzle, so as to bring the shade above the front or fore sight, the rear of the slot 01 taking positively against the rear of the front or fore sight. I

In Fig. 1, e is the barrel. f is the front or fore sight, and g is the muzzle.

Similar letters refer to similar parts througlr out the several views.

Fig. 1 shows the sight-protector as it appears when first slipped over the muzzle. Fig. 2 shows the sight-protector after it has been slipped past and to the rear of the front or fore sight. Fig. 3 shows the sight-protector still to the rear of the sight, but with the hood or shade, by a partial revolution of the collar in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, brought in line with the sight. Fig. 4 shows the sight-protector in position for use.

To use my invention in its preferred form, the marksman, holding his piece in one hand, takes the protector in the other and slips the collar over the muzzle, the end without the hood going on first. Then, by means of the slot 0, the sight-protector is slipped down toward the stock, past and to the rear of the cisa.

- solder or braze it fast to the collar.

front or fore sight, f. (See Fig. 2.) Next, by a partial revolution of the collar to in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, the sight protector is turned around'until the hood or. shade b is in line with the front or fore sight, f. (Position as in Fig. 3.) Then the sightproteetor is pushed from the rear by means of the slot d until the hood or shade is over the front or fore sight, the rear edge of the slot d taking positively against the rear of the sight and preventing the sight-protector from being thrownoif in firing. As the barrel becomes heated and expands, the collar a also becomes heated and expands. Should the expansion of the collar be less than that of the barrel, the slot 0 will allow the collar a to spread slightly under the pressure of the barrel. Thus the sight-protector will not interfere at all with the expansion of the barrel.

When not using the protector, it may he slipped back into the position shown in Fig. 3, and the shade being turned to the right or left about ninety degrees, the sight-protector may remain on the barrel without interfering with the aiming or firing. I I have thus far employed brass as the material for my sight-protector; but I do not confine myself to that. Any moderately-stiff metal (including steel).or any suitably-hard and non-inflammable composition would answer the purpose.

The best and simplest method of making my sight-protector is as follows: For the collar or holder, take a piece of metal tubing having the requisite length and diameter, and cut or mill out the slots. Bend a flat piece of the same metal into proper shade for a hood, and Another method would be to stamp the sight-protector out of a flat piece of metal and bend it into shape, the hood or shade being struck up. The sight-protector might also be made by casting metal or molding composition into the exact shape required; also, by boring but a solid piece and milling or cutting out the slots. I do not limit myself to any particular method of making.

The exact shape of the hood or shade is immaterial. I have represented it as a semi-cylinder; but it might equally well be so shaped that a cross-section of it would be some other geometrical figure-as, for instance, a rectangle. The holder,also, though the best formis as I have represented it, may be a longer or shorter cylinder, or may be a mere ring; or some quite different device might be employed for holding the sight-protector in place. The material may be thicker or thinner, as lightness or strength is most desired.

Instead of the slot 0, some other device might be employed for slipping the sight-protector past and to the rear of the front or fore sight. For example, in the form of my invention shown in the annexed drawings a long low hood springing from the edges of the slot 0 might be struck up fromthe collar, so that it would pass over the front or fore sight. I do not limit myself to any particular device for accomplishing this object.

I do not specifically claim the collar or the hood herein described; but

What I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- As a sight-protector for military rifles, carbines, and other firearms, the combination, with a hood or shade open at both ends and at its base, of a cylindrical holder having two longitudinal slots, each wider than the base of the front or fore sight of the rifle or other firearm, one slot being under the hood or shade, and having a stop or closure near the rear end otthe hood or shade, and the other slot being continuous throughout the length of the holder, whereby the protector may be slid over the muzzle and bodily past and to the rear of the front or fore sight, revolved on the barrel the necessary distance to bring the hood or shade in line with the said sight, and then slid forward until the hood or shade is over the said sight and the stop strikes the rear of said sight, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

OLIVER H. DEGUMBUS.

Witnesses:

FRANCIS lVIARION EPPLEY, FRANK L. CRAWFORD. 

